Night Whispers
by Chingu
Summary: Something new lurks in the void of space, something that the Bebop crew's never encountered before. And its after them.


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Disclaimer: I don't own Cowboy Bebop.

You ever get a cold, dead feeling inside of you, like bony fingers are wrapping themselves around your heart and squeezing it until it can't beat anymore? Then your blood starts to freeze, too, and you can't feel your legs. And then your arms go. Next, your body. And then finally, it all ends with your head, when you can't even think anymore. And that's when you realize that your eyes are the only parts of you working, that all you can do is watch as things play out on their own, completely out of your control.

This is the story of my life, the story of myself. This is how it all began, but I don't know how it'll end. All I can do is watch, and see what will happen next.

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_Damn, it's cold, tonight_, Ryan Peters thought as he continued his nightly patrol of the Sedna Way Dam. He tightened his grip around the edges of his heavy coat and pulled them even closer to the pits of his arms, hoping that the added effort would help shut out even more of the frosty chill in the air. It's been three months since he was assigned to this frozen piece of Hell, and it hasn't gotten any easier to deal with the cold since he'd gotten here.

At about 400 degrees below Fahrenheit, even the techs in charge of climate control could only do so much to make the distant red planet known as Sedna capable of supporting human life. In fact, it hadn't been possible until about five years back when some hot shot scientist discovered that some liquid mineral found only in Jupiter could actually be used as a type of "anti-freeze", even in an environment as frozen-over as Sedna. Even better than that, it could also be synthesized and used as a protectant sealant that could withstand temperatures of up to 650 degrees below Fahrenheit, making it possible to finally build research compounds on Sedna and maybe someday---when enough data had been collected---colonies.

Peters didn't give a damn about any of that, right now. He never gave a damn in the first place, but those bastards that headed ISSP thought well enough to stick him on this God-forsaken hunk of ice anyway. As he shivered, he slanted his eyes to the left where he could look down at the maze of complexes that made up Sedna's only "city", Ugruk.

Isolated within a circular dam enclosure to protect it from Sedna's harsh environment, Ugruk was actually a settlement of scientists and researchers dedicated to learning as much about Sedna as possible. All of its buildings were stark white domes without any windows so that they reminded Peters of snow drifts. They even reflected light the way snow drifts did, glowing from beneath the light synthesizers needed to illuminate the true void of Sedna. Being 8 billion miles away from the sun, the planetoid had no true light source of its own.

And here Peters was, one of the "elite" members of Ugruk's ten-member security team whose only purpose seemed to be patrolling the top of Sedna Way Dam during the Witching Hours, a time when the temperature reached its warmest. It was his job---along with the other members of his Pod---to keep a close eye out for any possible "threats".

Peters' face was too cold to smirk on its own, but it was the thought that counted.

__

Well, he thought sourly, _it should be just about time_.

And sure enough, he heard the chime of his wristband, signaling the last hour of the watch. Sighing heavily, Peters reached into one of the deep pockets of his coat and pulled out a flare gun. He aimed it into the air and pulled the trigger, shooting out a small canister that rocketed about 50 feet up before it finally erupted into a ball of lime-green colored light. All around the dam, Peters watched as nine other balls of green light erupted in the air, each one coming from a different section of the dam that were assigned to other members of the Pod.

All was well and clear. Nothing to report.

Grunting to himself, Peters jammed the flare gun back into its holster. Then he started to hop around in some sort of dance in an attempt to warm his body, rubbing furiously away at his arms. He could hear his teeth starting to chatter again. Standing still for even a few minutes had made him feel like his organs were freezing over.

__

Damn this Hell, he cursed repeatedly to himself. _Damn it, and damn the cold_.

Peters resumed his walk.

It would be another few minutes before he would stop again. It would only be for a few brief seconds, but those few seconds would be the start of something that would change Peters' life completely. It would also be the first time in three months that he'd completely forget about the cold.

A red flare.

A red flare was the signal for any kind of emergency level of trouble, never to be used for anything less than a Code Red warning. And Peters suddenly saw one casting its eerie light all across Ugruk, its bloody glow almost pulsating as the flare slowly descended. Peters had stopped for only a moment---too surprised to know what to do in those first few seconds---but then he'd registered where the flare had been sent from.

Section S1104-06.

Mikael Underwood's assigned section---his best friend since they'd both graduated from the Academy together.

As he raced across the dam towards the nearest tower, Peters quickly reached into his coat and pulled his Glock out from its holster. He could feel his blood boiling and his face beginning to flush as the adrenaline coursing through his veins warmed every limb of his body. He knew without having to look that there were other figures clad in dark coats also racing for their own towers, each one hurrying to reach their assigned terminals so that they could increase the level of the security grid to its maximum.

That's the way it worked on Sedna. Even with the miracle mineral found on Jupiter, all equipment to be exposed to the elements were still susceptible to Sedna's extreme weather conditions and could only fully operate with few risks when kept in smaller segments. And so the Ugruk's security grid had been divided into ten different parts all around the Sedna Way Dam. It always operated at the minimum security patch level---but a red flare demanded a full upgrade to the grid's top level of security, no questions asked.

And Underwood's assigned section had already been switched to "full", the telling beam of red light coming from his tower signaling the fact.

Peters almost went for his ISSP assigned cruiser before activating his piece of the grid in his hurry to rush to his friend's tower, but all of the towers suddenly started to wail with individual sirens, reminding him that he needed to enter his code into the system before leaving. It only took him a few seconds to key in the right digits and press his palm into the reader. The terminal's usually green screen suddenly flashed red, confirming that section five of the security grid has been powered up to its maximum level.

Peters quickly ran for his cruiser and leapt into the cockpit without waiting for the hatch to completely lift. He had to make sure that Underwood was alright. He had to know what had happened, what would happen on a planet this small and so far out in the solar system, a planet that had nothing to offer anyone. As he pulled out of the runway that yawned out of the tower like a tongue, Peters only thought about his friend, about knowing what had happened to his friend.

Little did Peters know that there was more to Sedna than anyone ever knew about. Little did he know that there was more to Ugruk than he had ever known about. And little did he know that he'd be the last to see Underwood---or anyone else on Ugruk---alive.


End file.
